Altın Gün
Amsterdam-based Altın Gün are essential interpreters of the Anatolian rock and folk legacy and a leading voice in the emergent global psych-rock scene. They already made a name for themselves, especially in mainland Europe, with their hotly tipped 2018 debut album ‘On’, a hugely popular KEXP performance and hundreds of gigs.
“We do have a weak spot for the music of the late ‘60s and ‘70s,” Altın Gün bass player and founder Jaspar Verhulst admits. “With all the instruments and effects that arrived then, it was an exciting time. Everything was new, and it still feels fresh. We’re not trying to copy it, but these are the sounds we like and we’re trying to make them our own.”
And what they create really is theirs. Altın Gün radically reimagine an entire tradition. The electric saz (a three-string Turkish lute) and voice of Erdinç Ecevit (who has Turkish roots) is urgent and immediately distinctive, while keyboards, guitar, bass, drums, and percussion power the surging rhythms and Merve Daşdemir (born and raised in Istanbul) sings with the mesmerizing power of a young Grace Slick. This isn’t music that seduces the listener: it demands attention. Explosive, funky and transcendent.
A RFB x Bad Vibrations Co-Promotion
"There are few bands today who make their presence known with as much vibrance, exuberance and cultural relevance"
- All Things Loud
" Seeing this moment and the rapt reaction from the crowd feels significant. It feels like Altın Gün offers more than just an introduction to Turkish rock. They offer a way forward for our own."
- London In Stereo
Live review of their last show with us
London In Stereo came to see the XOYO show we put on back in September, here’s some excerpts:
From their confidence onstage tonight it is evident how much their sound has been sharpened through practice on demanding continental stages and in rehearsal studios. While clearly a special moment for the band and their British fans, the show is also business as usual for them. A wave of applause surges through the crowd at the first solo break as Ben peels out his wah-drenched licks to a bouncing crowd.
The period of Turkish music that Altıin Gün mines for direct inspiration is the Anatolian rock of the seventies when artists like Barıs Manço, Selda Bagcan and Erkin Koray sought to merge the rock music of western Europe and America with their Turkish musical backgrounds. None of the songs Altın Gün play tonight are originals, but to call them a covers band would be to misunderstand the culture they are emulating. Just as the pre-Beatles music world was filled with bands updating older standards to secure recording contracts, so too was it common practice for Anatolian rock artists. Tonight’s set features well-travelled updates of folk saz player Neşet Ertaş’s ‘Tatlı Dile Güler Yüze’, ‘Kirsehirin Guller’, and ‘Şad Olep Gülmedim’. The pared-down mysticism of the latter segues seamlessly into a heavy lysergic take on Erkin Koray’s classic ’Cemalim’. It’s a set that maintains a consistently high standard from the outset. At one point Merve tries to teach the crowd a dance that “all the Turkish people will already know. It’s simple” she smiles, “just put your hands up and snap your fingers.” They proceed to launch into their well-loved On deep cut ‘Çiçekler Ekiliyor’ which somehow blows the roof off.
For all their virtuosic pyrotechnics, what really shines through about Altın Gün is their personality. It’s manifested through their unpretentious sound and stagecraft – a blissed-out meeting of musical cultures as they bring Byzantine melodies into a genre which, in recent trends, lacks both melody and musicianship. Altın Gün offers an introduction to a towering musical culture; a refreshing frame of reference outside of our own. From the uninterrupted screams that follow in their wake when they come offstage, it’s evidently one that has already been accepted. In their encore, they surprise even their staunchest YouTube followers with the Turkish classic ‘Yali Yali / Çayelinden Öteye’, a song by Neşe Karaböcek (and one of my first recommendations for anyone willing to try Anatolian rock). Seeing this moment and the rapt reaction from the crowd feels significant. It feels like Altın Gün offers more than just an introduction to Turkish rock. They offer a way forward for our own.